Amia calva Linnaeus / BOWFIN

About this Item

Name

Family: Amiidae (Bowfin)
Scientific Name: Amia calva Linnaeus
Common Name: BOWFIN

Description

General Description: The bowfin may be distinguished from all other fishes of the region by the long dorsal fin that arches in a bow over most of the back of the fish. The body is covered with cycloid scales. There is a unique, bony, gular plate on the undersurface of the lower jaw at the front, where the two sides meet. The caudal fin is rounded, and nearly homocercal externally. The bones of the inside of the mouth are extensively covered with teeth.
Specific Description: Tubular anterior nostrils; long dorsal fin with 45 rays; gular plate

Distribution

Distribution: Mississippi drainage lowlands; S Great Lakes-St. Lawrence drainage ; Gulf of Mexico drainage ; Atlantic slope lowlands to PA

Ecology

Ecology: In low gradient rivers, marshes, and lakes in clear water with abundant vegetation. Feed on fish and other animals. Length to 75 cm.

Family Description

New Family Filename: /f/fish5ic/family/bowfin.htm

Related Material

Resolver ID: fish5ic-9

Technical Details

Collection: University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, Fish Species Descriptions
Record: 012
Link to this Item: https://quod.lib.umich.edu/f/fish5ic/x-012/012

Rights and Permissions

These materials are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International license. This means you are free to share and adapt the digital objects for any non-commercial purpose, so long as you give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits. The license does not in any way limit your rights under copyright law, such as fair use. Please read the license before using this work. If you use materials from this collection, please use the following attribution and copyright notice: "©2019 Regents of the University of Michigan. This work was created by the University of Michigan Museum of Zoology Fish Division. It is licensed under the CC-BY-NC 4.0 license." If you have questions about the collection, please contact the UMMZ Fish Division. If you have concerns about the inclusion of an item in this collection, please contact Library Information Technology.

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Full citation: "Amia calva Linnaeus; BOWFIN." In the digital collection University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, Fish Species Descriptions. https://quod.lib.umich.edu/f/fish5ic/x-012/012. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed April 25, 2024.